"We have had a good first six months and have gained in both volumes and market share value. Like everyone else we were bothered by the shortages due to the weather conditions in Spain and Italy, but thanks to our own purchasing offices in those countries with direct contact with the growers and cooperations, we thankfully didn't have any empty shelves. Unlike the competition," Andreas said proudly. "The most important thing is that we get the best product from the best growers, who meet all certification demand from GlobalGAP and GRASP, for instance. Our goal is always long term collaboration, so that we can create a good product planning."
Competition
The competition is also strong in Swiss retail. "The discounters are on the rise. Lidl grew considerably with a new formula in 2016. This is why we will have to fight even harder for our turnover. We are defining in assortment, freshness and packaging, but also have to work on our price image and show that we supply a good price-quality ratio. Compared to Migros we have a wider assortment and our organic package is much more extensive. The biggest competition, however, is from Swiss people who, usually for the weekend, shop at German and French supermarkets. The fact that the Swiss Franc is now slightly weaker compared to the Euro contributes to the Swiss product being slightly cheaper and the consumers going abroad less often."
Competition
The competition is also strong in Swiss retail. "The discounters are on the rise. Lidl grew considerably with a new formula in 2016. This is why we will have to fight even harder for our turnover. We are defining in assortment, freshness and packaging, but also have to work on our price image and show that we supply a good price-quality ratio. Compared to Migros we have a wider assortment and our organic package is much more extensive. The biggest competition, however, is from Swiss people who, usually for the weekend, shop at German and French supermarkets. The fact that the Swiss Franc is now slightly weaker compared to the Euro contributes to the Swiss product being slightly cheaper and the consumers going abroad less often."
The goal is for Coop to carry a large as possible assortment of potatoes, fruit and vegetables from their own country. "Local for local is an important item for our customers," says Andreas. "At the moment around half of our fruit and vegetables come from Swiss cultivation. It is around 60% for vegetables and around 40% for fruit. The large volumes and low prices of the Spanish stone fruit make it difficult to compete against it with own product. The cold weather at the end of April really affected the Swiss fruit sector. The local greenhouse cultivation is reasonably stable. How it will continue develop is largely dependent on politics. The growers are still enjoying the border protection they have at the moment. What's important in a protected market like this is that not too much is grown, so that the demand remains good."
The tourism is an important pillar of the Swiss economy. "Tourists want local meat, dairy and fruit and vegetables. Stone fruit and melons were hugely popular with the warm weather in June," says Andreas. He believes it works to the advantage of the Swiss fruit and vegetable trade that the country isn't a member of the EU. "We didn't have an economic crisis. This is also one of the reasons that consumers don't look look at the price as much when buying fruit and vegetables. Switzerland is doing very well economically. This will also offer opportunities for the Brits in offering local produce. But we also need import flows and this is why it's important that we have a good relationship with the EU. We import the large import products through our service provider and also import from set suppliers. In the Netherlands this is The Greenery (E. van den Berg), Valstar and Rainbow International."
Online
The e-commerce platform Coop at Home is going through considerable growth. "The front runners are the heavy products, such as mineral water and washing products, but the online sales of fruit and vegetables is growing by over 10% per year. All fruit and vegetables can be ordered online," says Andreas. Coop believes it is important to offer the fruit and vegetables both loose and packaged in store. "Households are getting smaller and it is important that you give people the choice in the volumes they are buying."
Online
The e-commerce platform Coop at Home is going through considerable growth. "The front runners are the heavy products, such as mineral water and washing products, but the online sales of fruit and vegetables is growing by over 10% per year. All fruit and vegetables can be ordered online," says Andreas. Coop believes it is important to offer the fruit and vegetables both loose and packaged in store. "Households are getting smaller and it is important that you give people the choice in the volumes they are buying."
At the moment Coop is testing a new fruit and vegetable department in a number of stores. "We did store research in Europe for this to look at what the best ways are to sell fruit and veg. A good vibe on the shelf is import, to emphasise freshness and naturalness. We changed the background of a 'regular' wall to a wooden look and also changed the floors and shelves," says the Category Manager. "Organic continues to experience a large growth in Switzerland. We are market leaders in this and have great growth planned with our growers for the coming years."
According to Andreas the biggest opportunity for fruit and vegetables sales is the positive image of the product. "Never before has as much been written about healthy food as there is now. If you look at the boost that gives the sales of berries and certain cabbage, you can see it offers huge opportunities. On the other hand it also has to keep us alert to deal with it correctly. Excesses such as MRL exceedances are no good for the sector. It is important that everyone in the chain takes responsibility for this."
For more information:
Andreas Allenspach
Coop
Thiersteinerallee 14
4002 Basel
Tel: +41 61 336 59 11
[email protected]
According to Andreas the biggest opportunity for fruit and vegetables sales is the positive image of the product. "Never before has as much been written about healthy food as there is now. If you look at the boost that gives the sales of berries and certain cabbage, you can see it offers huge opportunities. On the other hand it also has to keep us alert to deal with it correctly. Excesses such as MRL exceedances are no good for the sector. It is important that everyone in the chain takes responsibility for this."
For more information:
Andreas Allenspach
Coop
Thiersteinerallee 14
4002 Basel
Tel: +41 61 336 59 11
[email protected]
